Bob Mainwaring can trace his ancestry back to his farmer forebears who arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1835 to help pioneer the fledgling colony. Their numerous descendants include farmers and professionals of all kinds as well as a wide selection of tradespeople.
He was educated in the public school system and secured his first job at age fifteen as a messenger in the post office, later returning to his first vocation of farming. He lived for twenty-five years on Flinders Island where he developed a successful grazing property running both sheep and cattle and subsequently became a member of the Tasmanian parliament where he served for eleven years.
He and his wife now live in retirement in Launceston where he continues to take an abiding interest in the early history of Australia with a special interest in the settlement of the first colonies.